Maytree News headlines – March 23, 2011

Mentoring new immigrants (Financial Post)Gautam Nath is very active in Torontos immigrant community. In addition to being director of Cultural Markets Research at Environics Research Group, he is a director on the board at Multilingual Community Interpreter Services (MCIS), has been invited to join the advisory board of York Universitys Internationally Educated Professional (IEP) Bridging Program and mentors newcomers through the Maytree Foundations mentoring partnership.http://www.financialpost.com/news/Mentoring+immigrants/4465549/story.html

Imagine you try to convince a Mayor…. (Intercultural Cities)Imagine you are trying to convince a Mayor to embrace the Intercultural city agenda. Try and generate good arguments for and against it. You can add ideas to the conversations below or start new conversations. Of course these are generic arguments, it is very important to note that in a real-life discussion arguments will be specific to each city: you need to research the policies, priorities, political set up and even personalities before a meeting and prepare to address the concrete situation.http://www.mindz.com/plazas/Intercultural_Cities/wiki/Imagine_you_try_to_convince_a_Mayor____

Too many white people on city council? (Toronto Sun)There is not one black community. Black people are not a totally homogenous group. The background, culture and beliefs of a person who came to Canada from Jamaica differ from someone who came from Nigeria and both of them differ from the person whose family has been here for generations. Yet the Toronto Star seems on a mission to characterize white people as one group a club of sorts. If true, I am not getting the newsletter.http://www.torontosun.com/comment/columnists/2011/03/22/17718446.html

New Database Reveals Social Media Habits of Canadians (Delvinia)The results of Delvinias new annual AskingCanadians social media survey have been linked to PRIZMC2, a popular consumer segmentation system from Environics Analytics. And, the findings put a face on the new world of social media producers, followers and dropouts, helping businesses better understand how Canadians are connecting over the Internet… If youre a recent immigrant, theres a good chance youre into blogging about your experience.http://www.delvinia.com/new-database-reveals-social-media-habits-of-canadians/

Who Are You? The Census Helps Demographers Know (Toronto Star)A demographic tool defines all of us by our postal codes, via core data from the imperiled long-form census. Some Canadians might balk at being thought of purely as consumers rather than citizens, as Volvo drivers versus Buick buyers, as falling something called the Tools & Trucks segment or the Continental Culture class. Thats how one of Canadas most sophisticated geodemographic statistical systems, Environics Analytics PrizmC2, sorts all of us. We all fit into one of 66 neighbourhood-lifestyle clusters, based on more than 1,800 variables, all beginning with data gathered via the Census of Canada.http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/census/article/842471–who-are-you-the-census-helps-demographers-know

Kenney staffer apologizes for fundraising letter (CBC)A former staffer in Immigration Minister Jason Kenney’s office says he’s sorry for an embarrassing violation that saw him send out a fundraising request on parliamentary letterhead. Kasra Nejatian told a House of Commons committee Monday night the mistake was entirely his own when he accidentally mailed the request, along with a presentation on appealing to ethnic voters, on Kenney’s parliamentary letterhead.http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/story/2011/03/21/pol-kenney-letter.html

New video: Highlights from the 5th Annual Immigrant Success Awards (Canadia HR Reporter)Highlights from the IS Awards, including interviews with Zabeen Hirji, chief human resources officer at RBC, and Nancy Steele, winner of the Canadian HR Reporter Individual Achievement Award.http://www.hrreporter.com/VideoDisplay.aspx?videoid=139

Little Ethiopia, big dreams (EYE weekly)One man’s crusade to have a run-down stretch of The Danforth revived as Toronto’s official Little Ethiopia… I meet with Samuel Getachew, one of the leading figures in the Little Ethiopia movement, at the infamous Obama Café to find out. Over cups of Ethiopian coffee and Barack Obamas smiling face displayed on the table in front of us, Getachew tells me that, at last count, there are 19 Ethiopian-owned businesses in the area, including Obama Café. I know we are not the majority, he says, but we are not the United States. We respect minority rights in this country. We are just asking for something that every citizen wants to be and thats to be empowered.http://www.eyeweekly.com/city/features/article/112898–little-ethiopia-big-dreams

Conference to grapple with thorny immigration issues (Vancouver Sun)How can Canada stop immigrant groups from turning out religious radicals, with some bent on terrorism in the name of God? Given that many newcomers arrive from countries where homosexuality is illegal, how can Canada support immigrants who feel forced to hide that they are gay or lesbian? Are Canadians being too laissez-faire about whether fresh arrivals know English or French? Some believe the limited expectations Canada places upon new arrivals lead to ethnic enclaves. These are some of the long-disputed topics that will be debated at a massive Vancouver conference on immigration sponsored by Metropolis B.C., one of five Canadian think-tanks financed by governments to research and create dialogue on multicultural issues.http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Conference+grapple+with+thorny+immigration+issues/4488273/story.html

Thorncliffe Park to get cricket field (Yonge Street Media)An underused and poorly maintained Thorncliffe Park playground could soon be transformed into a vibrant community hub complete with a cricket field, amphitheatre, butterfly garden, and extensive green space. As reported by the Globe & Mail, the $1.7-million “Valley Park Go Green” plan was initiated by a group of community activists and staff at Valley Park Middle School in an effort to give the children living in one of Toronto’s densest low-come neighbourhoods “somewhere to go”.http://www.yongestreetmedia.ca/inthenews/thorncliffeparktogetcricketfield0323.aspx

Civic org Toronto Homecoming launches campaign to lure expat talent back to the GTA (Yonge Street Media)A group called Toronto Homecoming (see Yonge Street’s feature from January 2010) is accepting applications from talented Torontonians who’ve moved away in an attempt to lure them back home. Those who qualify will attend a conference held June 9-12 that will showcase what Toronto has to offer and put them in touch with large firms firms and headhunters looking to hire executive talent.http://www.yongestreetmedia.ca/innovationnews/torontohomecoming0323.aspx

UN refugee agency scraps Vancouver post (Globe and Mail)The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees will no longer have a full-time presence in Vancouver, raising concerns about who will monitor refugee rights in a province thats had two high-profile migrant boats dock in the past 18 months. Abraham Abraham, UNHCR Canadas representative, said the lone Vancouver position has been scrapped after 3½ years because the agency is grappling with a global budget shortfall of more than $1-billion.http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/british-columbia/article1952382.ece

Soon-to-Launch News Site Promises Global Perspective on Toronto (Torontoist)Set to launch on April 7 with web, tablet, and mobile versions, the new site will operate under the guidance of editorial director Christopher Frey. He’s a writer and radio journalist with over fifteen years of experience. He founded Outpost Magazine and won two National Magazine Awards for his work there. He has freelanced, recently, for a bunch of different places, including Monocle, the London-based global affairs and culture magazine that seems to be one of several antecedents for what the Standard wants to do. Of the Standard, says Frey: “It is a general-interest sort of publication about Toronto.”http://mobile.torontoist.com/2011/03/soon-to-launch_toronto_news_site_piggybacks_on_150_year-old_brand.php

Toronto Councillor Paul Ainslie’s City podcast proposal – PDF (City of Toronto)With a growing number of people utilizing social media for current events and news , I b elieve it would be beneficial for the City of Toronto to begin to have weekly podcasts to reach out to Torontonians. The podcasts would involve a 30 minute look at City of Toronto p rograms and initiatives which affect business and residential communities.http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2011/gm/bgrd/backgroundfile-36761.pdf

SOCIAL INNOVATION

Social Finance – A Supply-Demand Imbalance? (Socialfinance.ca)The one common theme emerging from our different takes was demand. There is demand for investing in social good. There were a number of us who had explored and invested in ethical funds, hoping they would satisfy our demand. We felt a bit let down when we saw that the companies in ethical funds were the same ones in regular funds. Others among us had experience investing in Kiva, but wanted an option to loan their money to local organizations. There were still others who had put together their own community mortgages.http://socialfinance.ca/blog/post/a-supply-demand-imbalance